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Comics A.M. | Hank Kanalz on DC's digital expansion; T. Samuval dies

Digital comics | Hank Kanalz, DC Entertainment senior vice president of digital, talks about DC's decision to offer its single-issue comics on a variety of platforms, including Kindle, Nook, and iTunes, rather than exclusively through comiXology and its branded apps (which run on the comiXology platform): "It's not a move [away from comiXology], it's an expansion. My charter is to go as wide as possible, and to expand to as many readers as possible. That's what this is." [CNET]

Passings | Indian cartoonist T. Samuval died last week in Delhi at age 86. Tom Spurgeon writes, "He was best known for his pocket cartoons, contributed under the nom de plume 'Samuel.' Pocket cartoons were a development of British newspapers in the 1930s: single-column cartoons on a current news story designed in many cases to lighten the severity of bad or unpleasant news. Many, like Samuval's, became recurring features with a specific character at their forefront." [DNA, The Comics Reporter]

Retailing | The Chicago store First Aid Comics is opening a second shop in the Little Italy neighborhood. [Chicago Journal]

Creators | J. Michael Straczynski talks about his own take on Superman, as reflected in his Superman: Earth One graphic novels: "Here’s the thing about Superman: He’s the most powerful guy on the planet inside the DC universe. But in the last few decades other comic universes have arisen with dozens of characters on that same power level. So while he’s unique in the DC universe, he’s not unique outside that. So what makes him unique? What makes him interesting other than that he’s really, really strong? That question led me to want to redefine Clark in ways that made him more interesting and more flawed as a person. Not in a dark, mean, cynical way, because that’s way too easy. But as a true outsider whose heart is vulnerable. I wanted to emphasize the loneliness of a kid growing up knowing just how different he was from everyone else, who had to keep his distance for their protection and his own." [Hero Complex]

Creators | Daniel Peniston and Kim Thompson talk to Dutch designer and artist Joost Swarte, who has illustrated many a New Yorker cover and gave Francoise Mouly's Little Lit its sleek design. And he has been knighted! [The Comics Journal]

Creators | Joe Keatinge discusses the digital comics he's doing for MonkeyBrain as well as his work for Marvel. [Comics Bulletin]

Creators | In a video interview recorded at Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Eva Volin talks to artist Nate Powell about his two most recent projects, The Silence of Our Friends, a story about the Civil Rights era, and Year of the Beasts, a hybrid graphic novel written by Cecil Castellucci. [Good Comics for Kids]

Comics | The London bookstore Foyle's commissioned a massive comic strip depicting the history of the store, which was posted on a hoarding at the site of their new shop, on Charing Cross Road, which will open in 2014. The strip was done to celebrate the opening of the Comica Festival last weekend, and many of the participating artists contributed to the strip. If you don't have time to go to London, the whole comic can be viewed here. [Creative Review]